The Mentor and the Cadet
by Bliss30
Summary: Valkyrie is quickly turning 18 and her powers are doing weird things. Her shadow is disappearing, her Reflection is acting strange, and Darequess has gone AWOL. Add a lot of old foes, new friends and a new crime and becomes a battle to save the world against time. Again. Written after Death bringer.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey people. I'm starting this series again. Hopefully I'll keep at it this time. Sorry for the bad writing and the delay in updates.**

**Why was I gone so long? Because of College and exams and other bullshit ie the time in my life where I have multiple breakdowns and slowly descend to my death. But hey its okay, I'm not suffering alone (I'll drag you all with me MWAHAHAHAHAHA etc).**

**Anyway, stay with me folks. I'll update more and change the previous chapters to make them more descriptive and, well better. I'm changing the story a little due to more awesome Skulduggery books being released. I'm leaving the full on romance theme as, well coz it's boring and cliché but I'll have subtle hints of it don't worry.**

**So here goes…**

It was a dark stormy night. The wind was howling, the thunders were roaring, the birds were chirping.

Not outside of course. China Sorrows would never leave such valuable glowing white nuclear detonating birds outside. They chirped and hopped inside their metal cage which she placed on the table in the middle of the library.

China smiled and closed her eyes to the birds' tuneless chirps. _To think such beautiful birds' posses such darks powers_, she thought. _With the right training they will be able to set off a nuclear explosion from within them, all in my command._

China picked up her tea and stirred it while staring out the big window beside her. Everything was silent besides the birds. Then suddenly there was a knock on the door which echoed through the house. China sighed and got up and walked to the door.

She slowly reached forward and gripped the handles while twisting the lock open.

Slowly she bent the handle and the door creaked open. _Creaking doors_, China thought, _Annoying, must tell the butler to oil it_.

There was a flash of lightning as a dark hooded figure approached her.

_Is this the cue where I scream?_ She thought.

Valkyrie Cain stared at the new car that Skulduggery had driven to her house. It was a tiny squashed up VW Beetle. Not only was that but the colour was hot _pink_.

"Skulduggery, what happened to the Bentley this time?" she asked him.

"Nothing at all, why? Should anything have happened to the Bentley?" Skulduggery replied.

He was wearing his usual suit and hat while the creepy façade blinked back Val with glassy eyes. _I like it better when he didn't have eyes_, she thought.

"Then why do we have to go on a driving practice in a pink midget?" she complained.

"Well you can hardly think that I'll allow you to practice your driving in the _Bentley,_can you? This car is perfectly fine and durable against all the crashes you're going to endure. Besides, guess what! I bought you a matching learner license plate!" Skulduggery said as he pulled out a pink square Learner plate with a Black** L** on it.

"Good god! Well, couldn't you think of a better colour?" Valkyrie asked.

"I thought all girls like pink,"

"And am I a normal girl?"

"No, you're right. You're abnormal. Darn I should have bought a more secure car," he said.

Valkyrie laughed and swiped at him but as usual he jumped nimbly out of the way.

"Ok, let's get this over with," Valkyrie sighed as she opened the car door and hopped onto the driver's seat as Skulduggery went to his.

"Key," she said stretching her hand out. Skulduggery passed her a silver key with a Hawaiian bobble-head hula doll key ring.

Valkyrie grumbled and went to inject the key into the hole when it suddenly flew out of her hand.

"Seat belt," said Skulduggery twirling the key in the air around his finger.

"Valkyrie, watch the road!"

"I'm watching, I'm watching!" she screamed back at Skulduggery. She gripped the steering wheel in both hands and swiveled the car in a 360 turn around the roundabout, into the wrong lane towards a huge bulking a truck.

Two gloved hands grabbed the steering wheel and twisted it to the left. The car went screeching and skidding against the footpath and missing the truck by an eyelash.

"Brake Valkyrie! Brake!" yelled he yelled.

"Brake? Oh yes!" said Valkyrie as she stamped her foot on the brake. Instantly the car jolted to a halt as the truck and its angry (and very red) driver tooted past while swearing curses.

"What on earth were you doing?!" said Skulduggery staring at her. With those glassy eyes. Again. _Damn_ _I'm going to poke them out I swear_, Val thought.

"I'm sorry I kinda lost control,... but _you_ did say this car was durable!" Valkyrie retorted.

"I meant as in trees and lamp-posts, NOT a truck carrying cows!"

_The truck was carrying__cows__?! But then again we are in a farming area_. Val thought looking around.

"Even if the car is durable," Skulduggery went on, "The passengers aren't. And certainly not those poor cows"

"You and your cows!"

Skulduggery opened his mouth to say something when suddenly his phone went off. He dug into his suit pocket and brought out his phone.

"Oh Great Elder! What an unexpected surprise!" Skulduggery gasped. "Yes, I'm sorry Ghastly, I couldn't help it."

Valkyrie chuckled and shook her head.

"Huh? Oh yes of course. Really? That is strange. Absolutely, we'll be their faster than…er…faster than you can BREAK DANCE!" Skulduggery said as he snapped his phone shut.

"Faster than you can break dance?" Val looked at him incredulously.

"I'm losing my edge. Like a midlife crisis…kind of."

"That makes no sense. Anyway, what did he want?"

"You'll find out when you get there" He replied. He turned and looked at her. "Get out of the car." he ordered, opening his door. Valkyrie however stayed put until Skulduggery came to her door and opened.

"Your majesty," he said as he opened her door, with a bow.

"Funny Skulduggery, but I'm still driving whether you like it or not. This will probably be the last time I'll ever have a driving practice before we go jumping into another case again."

He gave her a _glassy_ look.

"Please!" she cried covering her eye. "Don't look at me with those eyes, damnit. I promise I won't kill us!"

"Valkyrie, we don't have time for this. Besides, _I'm_ the expert driver slash mentor and _you're_ the learner slash Cadet. I can drive really fast _without_ crashing into trucks since I'm the _EXPERT_. Anyway, a good mentor never lets the cadet go speeding while learning."

"Well the cadet says the "expert" better shut his mouth and get in his seat or the cadet will drive away without him," Valkyrie replied giving him a "try me" glare. Skulduggery laughed but then stopped and looked back at her.

"You're not serious."

Valkyrie answered by shutting her door.

"Wait!" Skulduggery said as he ran to his side of the car and got into his seat.

"You're so annoying you know that?" He mumbled and then sighed. "Well then Cadet, drive away. And look out for cows. I mean trucks!"

Valkyrie grinned and pressed down on the accelerator.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again to everybody who are reading this. **

**I just had a really bad day, but with you dudes and dudets smiling away, the world seems a better place already. **

**P.s: I'm currently writing a book and it's about a guy who discovers that there is a parallel universe (another world which looks exactly like ours) which actually exists and accidently gets sucked into it by this magic circle on the ground but when he got there, it was destroyed by this giant mutant centipede while it was chasing him. But then a girl saves him and takes him back to her village and then they go off in an adventure to find a wizard who can fix the circle so the guy can go back to his own world again.**

**Anyhoo, what I need is a title for my book and URGENTLY so if you have any ideas then could you please let me know in the **_**reviews**_**. **

**Thanks!**

**Don't stop smiling! ******

**Continuing from where we left off...**

The skeleton "mentor" and his trusty "cadet" finally arrived at the wax works museum narrowly missing two trashcans, a woman and her dog and a fire hydrant... where the dog was peeing. (Even dogs have no shame these days.)

"Well," said Valkyrie turning off the engine. "We're here."

"Yes, we are," Skulduggery replied as he opened the door and got out of. Valkyrie did the same.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"That poor lady," Skulduggery said, shaking his head. "The dog got so scared of the car that he accidently turned his peeing direction towards the lady's nice new heels."

"Well it _was_ a _PINK_ car that was hurtling towards him!" Valkyrie retorted waving her arms up and down.

"Okay, fine! No need to be so dramatic about it," he muttered as he strode past Valkyrie leaving her seething in annoyance. She then followed him to the sanctuary gate.

"Remember to make a good impression," He said as they opened the gate and walked through it. "And I know it's difficult, especially with _him_ **(the grand mage)**, but at least _try_ to be a bit respectful."

"Why?" Valkyrie demanded. "He isn't respectful to _us_!"

"I know, I know. But if we do, there _might_ be a chance that he-," Skulduggery started.

"Oh god! Again with the job," Valkyrie groaned. "You are so hopeless."

"Even so," said Skulduggery in a philosophical voice. "There is a saying that goes "_The __pleasant__ must help the __unpleasant__ to be __pleasant_", and I'm not called Skulduggery _Pleasant_ for nothing."

"And _who_ said that?"

"Uh...some guy with white hair and a moustache...or was it a beard...," Skulduggery trailed off as they walked up the stairs.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. "Some wise guy you are."

Skulduggery opened his mouth to answer but got cut off when the door opened and a woman administrator appeared.

"Oh! It's you, the skeleton detective," the woman muttered. She looked at Valkyrie up and down. "And you must be his partner in crime," she added sarcastically. "The grand mage warned me about you."

"We were _called_ for an appointment," Valkyrie said.

"You were indeed," the woman said. "Follow me."

She turned around and started walking briskly down the hallway with Skulduggery and his "partner in crime" at her heels. They slowly got to a wide clearing which had 3 doors in each walls. It was lit by two massive candles stands filled with candles, hanging from the arched ceiling. Valkyrie looked closer at the candles to see that the candle fames weren't yellow but _white_! In the middle of the clearing was a desk with a short bald man talking on the phone.

"Where are all the cleavers?" Valkyrie asked.

"Don't worry they're still here," The administrator chuckled. "You just can't see them. It's their new uniform. It makes them invisible."

"So there has been some upgrading in the cleavers," Skulduggery murmured. "Interesting."

As they approached the desk, they could hear the short man yelling quietly in the phone. He got very sweaty and red as his whispers became yells. He then swore and slammed the phone shut. He grumbled to himself for a bit and then noticed his guests.

"Oh! Ah...sorry about that," he mumbled.

"Having trouble with your wife eh, Matty?" The administrator asked.

"God, Cynthia won't stop hassling me about the car. She says either I buy _her_ a car or let her drive _mine_!" Matty complained. "So I asked her why she needed to go out into town so much and she said to me to mind my own business and stop "hassling" _her_ about her_ PRIVATE LIFE_!" said Matty, practically screaming and waving his arms about.

"And you said _I_ was dramatic," Valkyrie muttered to Skulduggery.

Matty suddenly stopped waving and then swivelled his wheelie chair closer to them. "You don't think she has _hooked up_ with someone, do you?" he whispered.

"Uhh...," was all the Administrator could say.

"Argh! I knew it! I knew this was going to happen," Matty moaned.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she hasn't. And even if she has…uh… you know how the saying goes… "there are more fishes in the sea"…I think," Valkyrie said. She roughly elbowed Skulduggery.

"Ow! Oh…uh…yeah that's right! And, um…well, it depends if the sea is polluted or not…" Skulduggery trailed off. Valkyrie glared at him as Matty started to groan again.

"What he means," Valkyrie said quickly. "Is that, Cynthia would be a total idiot to drop out on you. I mean look at you, you're a real…Hunk?" She said waving her arms towards Matty. Everyone stared at her as if she was deranged. Then a moment of silence followed. "Right?" she asked.

"Right," the Administrator said quickly.

"Right," Skulduggery said slowly. "He is a real "hunk"."

More silence.

"Anyway, may we please see Thruid Guild now?" Valkyrie asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, sure…but you can't, not yet," Matty replied.

"Why not?"

"Well because, there is another person who supposed to see him before you. She rang earlier to warn me that she was going to be late,"

"Who is that?"

"Well-"Matty started but got cut off as the door bell rang again.

The administrator strided quickly down the hall to the door and swiftly opened it.

Valkyrie, Skulduggery and Matty listened quietly as they heard some whispering at the end of the hall, then as the sound of footsteps started to be heard, they looked at the hall way clearing as a girl appeared followed by the Administrator.

Valkyrie stared open mouthed as the most beautiful girl walked up to the desk. She had wavy, flaky black hair which was tied up into a bun with a pink stick through. Her front fringe curved outwards, with two deep turquoise coloured streaks, one on each side of her head. She was wearing a dark blue suit with a light pink blouse underneath and a dark blue skirt. She was tall and tan, maybe 2 or 3 years older than Valkyrie.

As the girl came closer, Valkyrie saw that the girl's piercing eyes were _two_ different colours. Her right eye was brown-hazel, while her left was light bluey-green.

Valkyrie and Skulduggery stepped aside as she walked past them to the desk and halted a foot apart.

"Hello," she said in a light melodic voice. "I'm very sorry that I'm late. I had some trouble on the way. I hope it's not too late for my meeting."

"N-no, not at all," Matty stuttered, gaping at her.

He grabbed the phone on his desk and started jabbing the numbers in. Meanwhile, the girl turned to Skulduggery and Valkyrie and smiled sheepishly at them.

"Are you here for a meeting too?" she asked.

Valkyrie nodded slowly as Skulduggery tilted his head and said, "Yes, yes we are."

"Oh, I'm sorry if my lateness has held you up," she replied.

"Oh no, not at all," Skulduggery said. "Our call was actually unexpected. My name is Skulduggery by the way, Skulduggery Pleasant." Skulduggery put out his hand. "And this is my partner, Valkyrie Cain." He added nodding to Valkyrie. Valkyrie shyly put her hand out.

"Very nice to meet you two," the girl said, shaking both of their hands. "My name is-"she started but was cut off as Matty tapped her arm.

"Oh sorry, to interrupt you but uh… The grand mage can see you now," He mumbled, still staring at her.

"Thank you, good day," she said as she followed the Administrator towards a big black door, at the end of the clearing.

"Yeah, you too," he said he watched her walk away and then sighed. "If only she was older." He said.

"Oh, come _on_," Skulduggery groaned, then he and Valkyrie walked back towards the.

"I wonder why a girl like her wants to see the grand mage," Valkyrie said to Skulduggery. "I thought he hated "children" like me even though I'm almost 18."

"Well my dear cadet, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Skulduggery replied.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "Yeah and just how do we do that? It's not like we can barge into their meeting, prop ourselves into a chair and listen to their whole conversation."

"Well since I'm not draft like you, I say we just do what any other genius like me would do."

He said turning around and walking back towards the clearing.

"And that is?" Valkyrie asked as she followed him.

"We just tell Matty that the girl "dropped" something and we would like to return it, and then when he is not looking, we sneak over to the door and press our ears against it, scrunch up our eyes and give our full concentration on listening to them speak while trying not to make any noise. And there you go, easy as washing hands."

Valkyrie stopped and stared at him. "I got three things to say to you. One, are you insane? Two, you even don't _have_ any hands! And three, have you been paying a nickel to what the Administrator said? The whole place is guarded with Cleavers in invisible cloaks!"

"Cleavers in "invisible cloaks"?! You watch too many Harry Potter movies. This is going to be _fine_."

"And you watch too much James bond," Valkyrie grumbled back.

"As I said, it's going to be fine." Skulduggery replied as they got near the desk. "It's time Valkyrie, that I teach you the art of eavesdropping."


	3. Chapter 3

**Erm…sorry for the lateness of this update. I had a lot of homework and our laptop caught a virus.**

**Anyway, from where we left off.**

~Valkyrie's POV~

So there we were. Your all time favourite crime busting hero's, taking on all danger to protect humanity, me and Skulduggery were……crouching on the floor outside the conference door with our ears pressed against it. We managed to dodge the cleavers with Skulduggery "reading the air" but were still on the lookout.

_THIS IS INSANE!_ I mouthed to Skulduggery. _I KNOW YOU'RE INSANE!_ He mouthed back. I sighed and gave up and scrunched up my eyes in concentration to hear what The Grand mage and the girl were talking about. Curse these stupid sound proof doors, I thought. All I could barely make out was faint whispers.

Here is what I heard:

_Thruid *cheerful tone*: Ah Miss. Strange! Welcome in. Lovely to see you! Please take a seat._

(Is he kidding me?! "Lovely to see her? From what I know about Thruid, he hates every living being!)

_Miss. Strange a.k.a "the girl" *chair scarping as she sat down*: Grand Mage. I must thank you for taking your time to meet with me._

_Thruid: Not at all. After all we were both expecting it._

_Miss. Strange: We were? Expecting what?_

(My point exactly.)

_Thruid: Uh… the reward?_

(Reward? I turned to look at Skulduggery only to find a pair of legs in his place. I looked up to see him, crossed armed and leaning against the door. He caught me looking and shrugged and mouthed _WHAT? I GOT TIRED OF CROUCHING!_ I shook my head and turned back to the door.)

_Miss. Strange: What reward? _

_Thruid: For saving my daughter of course! Silly!_

(OMG, "silly"?)

_Miss. Strange: Oh, that! Well I'm very flattered but I'm not here for a reward._

_Thruid *his tone changing*: No?_

_Miss. Strange: No, I was actually here for information._

_Thruid *tone completely changed*: What kind of information?_

_Miss. Strange*chair scraping again and then footsteps*: Well as you probably witnessed with the incident with your daughter, I have strange powers, Powers that I have yet to perfect and control. That's why I need to find a person who has experienced these powers before and can help me to tame it._

_Thruid: Yes, yes. And wish to look for this person, right? And to do that you will need the aid of the book of names right? Sorry but that was destroyed five years ago while-_

_Miss. Strange*cutting in*: I'm not here for the book._

_Thruid: Then what?_

_Miss. Strange: Well, I merely wanted permission to have a little conversation with one of your captive criminal. _

_Thruid *Chair scrapes as he stands up*: Absolutely not! Too dangerous for me to allow it!_

_Miss. Strange: Calm down Grand Mage. You haven't yet heard which captive I'm talking about. _

_Thruid *muttering*_

_Miss. Strange: His name is Ray Agony. The necromancer._

(With that I looked up at Skulduggery again only to find nothing there. I looked down to find him crouching beside me. I glared at him and he saw me and started to mouth I GOT TIRED- when I cut him off by hissing "For Pete's sake! I don't care if you're tired! JUST STOP MOVING!" Then I turned around and went back to eavesdropping as I heard him mutter back, "Pete's sake! _Pete's sake!_ Just who is "Pete" anyway?")

_Thruid: Agony? But he is an old man! What has he got to do with your powers?_

_Miss. Strange *impatient*: That is none of your business. Just let me talk to him!_

_Thruid: I have to hear the reason!_

_Miss. Strange: Argh! The reason is that I want to know how I can bring back someone alive to help me. That good enough for ya?_

(The "Strange" girl was really losing her politeness and temper! I thought. Then again, most people do, if they hang around with _Thruid_ for too long.)

_Thruid: Hmmm…_

_Miss. Strange *impatiently*: Well?_

_Thruid: Fine! I'll ask someone to escort you,…along with some Cleavers of course._

_Miss. Strange *still impatient, muttering*: Yes, yes. Bring them cleavers with their invisible cloaks._

We heard footsteps coming towards the door and leaped up. Skulduggery waved me to follow him as he tiptoed towards the hallway, read the air with one hand while signalling me to stop and go with the other.

"See? It's not just me who watches Harry Potter!" I told skulduggery.

"Oh shush!" he hissed back.

As we reached the big opening again, we saw Matty still wailing and the Administrator leaning against the desk with a bored and pained expression on her face. As we approached them, I heard Matty say, "We were only married for 15 years!"

"Really?" the administrator said absently. She saw us approach and stepped off the desk while Matty continued wailing.

"Where were you two? I mean seriously! How long does it take to return something to someone?"

"I had to go to the toilet!" I said quickly.

The administrator looked at me sceptically and then looked at Skulduggery. "Both of you?"

"He was… standing guard outside!"

The administrator stared at me and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I'm sure many deluded, lunatics would come and attack you while you do your business."

"Better safe than sorry!" I cheerfully replied.

Matty looked up and sniffed. "Even for bathrooms, you need an escort!"

Before I could reply, Skulduggery stepped in and said "Well we'll just wait here for our appointment. Thank you!" and led me towards the waiting chairs.

When we sat down, Skulduggery muttered to me "remind me to teach you the art of _**excuses**_ next! As in _**proper**_excuses!"


	4. Chapter 4

**CAUTION: THIS CHAPTER MAY BE A BIT AWKWARD!**

**Hope ya guys can take "awkward". It actually is awkward…ya know?**

~Val's POV~

As we sat, waiting for our call for our appointment, Skulduggery was giving me a rundown of how to make a "proper" excuse.

"First thing to keep in mind is that only use excuses when desperately needed. And also when you know that the excuse isn't _awkward,_" he said.

"Define awkward," I muttered back.

He sighed. "Do I really need to? I mean, you are awkward yourself so you should know."

I stabbed his foot with my heel but he stifled his howl since Matty and the Administrator were giving us the evil eyes. Skulduggery groaned quietly.

"I have a perfectly good "excuse" for my actions," I said giving him an innocent smile. He started to grumble.

"Fine! We'll save excuse lessons for later!"

"Fine by me," I said as I took my ipod out and settled down into the chair. I have to admit, even though I hate the grand mage, I like his style in furniture. Shiny leather yet so comfortable. I looked up at Skulduggery to find him eyeing my ipod.

"What?"

"Nothing," he muttered and went back to grumbling. I stared at him for a long while until he caught me staring.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked

"I'm trying to figure out if you have any ears."

He started at me and I'm sure that if he had eyes, they would be blinking. "Er…no. I don't have ears but I have…uh… holes? Ears aren't actually very strong bones so they decompose easily. Why?"

"Oh…erm… well I was wondering if you wanna listen to my ipod. You could, er… stick the earphones into your ear hole?!"

We stared at each other for what seemed like ages. "Sure. In my ear holes…ok-ay," he said unsurely. I passed him one of the ear phones while I stuck the other into my ear. I gazed back up at him to find him fiddling with the ear phone while trying to stick it into his ear hole,-I don't think it was going very well.

After many attempts of poking and twisting, he sighed and gave up. "How about I just hold it to my ear?"

"But you don't have one, remember?" I replied.

"Oh, fine! Ear hole then!"

"Right," I said as I turned my ipod on and pressed play.

_I KISSED A GIRL, AND I LIKED IT!_

I froze and then quickly pressed pause as I saw Skulduggery twitch nervously. I turned to him and gave him a shaky smile. "Er…I didn't know it was on pause! But I'm not lesbian either!" I quickly added. I then pressed next and prayed that this song wasn't disturbing. My prayer wasn't accepted.

_I'M GONNA TAKE YOU BACK TO MY HOUSE! I LOVE TH-_

Once again I pressed pause and babbled explanations to Skulduggery. He then cleared his throat. "Do you have…uh…song from the…erm, 30s or 40s?"

"Oh yeah! I have the Beatles and um...Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson?"

Before Skulduggery could reply, the Administrator strode up to us.

"The Grand Mage awaits you in the meeting room," she said as we stood up and then she led us back to the meeting room. On our way, we passed Miss. Strange.

"Ah, it was nice meeting you! Hope we see each other again," she said giving us a quick nod and then she hurried past before we could reply. She seemed to have recovered her politeness.

Skulduggery and I looked at each other and then kept on walking. Finally we came to the big meeting door again and the Administrator nodded at us and then left. Skulduggery knocked three times but on the second knock the door swung open. Thruid Guild stood there glaring at us but then sighed and made way to let us in. I noted in my head about his strange behavior. So unlike the Grand Mage I know.

"No small talk, I just want to get to the business and over with it," he grumbled as he sat down. He sounded strained and tired.

"Well then, Grand Mage. What is it you want with us?" asked Skulduggery as he sat down. But Thruid ignored him and turned towards me.

"A man, unidentified, broke into the sanctuary three days ago. He was looking you."

I stared at him. "Me? Why?"

"I do not know. He melted away before we could capture him," explained Thruid rubbing his brows.

"Melted? As in literally melted?" I turned to Skulduggery who was tapping his hat.

"Yes. There are some mages who have the ability to melt away or form into any other shame they want." He then turned to Thruid and asked "Could you please describe him to me?"

"Well," said Thruid. "I only arrived there halfway through his mutation. He had long scraggly black hair as if there were leaves, twigs or even seaweed stuck to him. He was in all black and was dripping with some type of black liquid. Oh! And his teeth were yellow."

"Remind you of anyone?" Skulduggery asked me. I shook my head. A maniac leaking with black liquid and seaweed for hair? Nope. Not in my book.

"Oh yes! I almost forgot!" Thruid suddenly exclaimed. He reached out from underneath his desk and pulled out 3 broken pieces of a rod and a small disk like object. When he handed them to me, I realize it was the broken pieces of the scepter of the Ancients!

"When the…*ahem* "maniac" melted away, he left the broken pieces of the scepter behind. I think there is a book about the ancients that may also help you try and reattach it. China Sorrows currently owns it."

I gently took the pieces and put them in order alongside the grand mages desk. Sure enough, the pieces formed the scepter. I looked up at Skulduggery.

"Did the man say anything?" he asked Thruid.

"No, he was actually screaming and laughing…in a really disturbingly evil way," Thruid replied. Fascinating.

Suddenly, our deep thoughts were disturbed by a loud buzzing and _"Hello Motto"_ ringing out from the grand Mage's cell phone. Thruid fumbled for his phone and snapped it open and grimaced as loud yelling's and screaming blasted out from the phone.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry, I was busy-" Thruid mumbled into the phone.

Who ever called, they sure were angry. Skulduggery and I leaned in to catch a better hearing of what was going on but then Thruid frowned and glared at us and we retreated back into our seats.

"Yes, I'm coming. I'll be there right away," grumbled Thruid and shut his phone.

"I'm sorry but I have to leave now," he muttered as he stood up and grabbed his coat off the chair and car keys from his desk drawer. He led us (or more like dragged us) to the door and locked it behind him.

"I'm sorry for not being much of any assistance but it's all I got," he said nodding to the broken scepter in my hand.

I was about to thank him when Skulduggery intercepted in front of him, blocking his way.

"Why exactly are you helping us?" Skulduggery demanded.

Thruid grumbled again impatiently. "Oh I don't know. I guess it's because I owe you for helping me…and it's what Bliss would have wanted," he added bowing his head. We all bowed our head. Thruid straightened up again and nodded to us and hurried down the corridor in quick strides.

Skulduggery and I then made our way back to the opening and are greeted by the vulture like stares from the Administrator and a teary eyed look from Matty.

"Well we'll be off then," Skulduggery told them.

The Administrators eyes narrowed. "Why were you so quick with your appointment?"

"Oh, the Thruid had to leave due to a call," I explained. "He seemed really troubled. Do you know what's up?"

"Oh that," the Administrator muttered. "It's because the Grand Mage's wife just had triplets, and a whole hand full they are alright. I mean just the other day, Thruid had to be called off from a meeting for another "baby disaster". He came back late the next day with dark circles under his eyes."

"The Grand Mage had triplets?" murmured Skulduggery. "Well you give him our congratulations."

The Administrator grimaced. I nodded at Matty. "Cheer up Matty. It will be alright!"

Matty frowned at me and straightened up. "That's Mr. Flint to you…or maybe not… well at least until the divorce papers come!" And he started up his fountain or tears again. The Administrator gave me a _"Gee, thanks a lot"_ glare and I sheepishly smiled back as I followed Skulduggery through the hallway and out the door. When we were out he turned to me and tilted his head.

"I love the way you handle things sometimes," he said.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'll make this chapter as long as possible.**

**On an interesting note, here are my friend's worst jokes EVA!**

**Her- Why didn't Johnny wear his shoes? **

**Me- (thinking: I have no idea where this is going) Cause he couldn't be stuffed?**

**Her- Cause Johnny's a goldfish!**

**~Silence~**

**~Nervous laughs from her~**

**~More silence~**

**Me- I don't get it…**

**Her- Ha ha…yeah…ahem, I don't either…**

**Her- What kinda tree grows from your hands?**

**Me- (thinking: this better be good) *sighs* What? **

**Her- A palm tree!**

**Me- *grumbling* LOL**

**Her- Really?**

**Me- No**

**Her- Oh…**

**~awkward silence~**

**Honestly, I worry about her. But then sometimes she also "**_**worries**_**" about me. **

**Awkward conversation full of "worry-ness"-**

**Me- *groans* I feel weird.**

**Her- You are weird!**

**Me-*glares* I have this awkward feeling in my stomach…**

**Her-Hmmm, are you in love?**

**Me- *stares* Uhh…no.**

**Her- Then you're pregnant!**

**Me- *staring even more awkwardly* NO!**

**Her- Are you sure?**

**Me- Do I look sure?**

**~She peers closely at me~**

**Her- No.**

**Me- *Sighs***

**Just to make it clear for you guys- NO I'M ****NOT**** PREGNANT!**

**If you don't have a clue where these jokes are going or just don't get it, don't worry, I don't either! But if you **_**do**_** then god bless you!**

**Anyway, carrying on…**

~Val's POV~

Me and Skulduggery are driving towards China's place in the hideous pink beetle and it's _me_ in the driving seat.

The tension is killing us.

I grip the steering wheel so tightly, I'm practically yanking it out of its socket. Skulduggery is yelling me all sorts instructions though I'm not paying any attention to whatever he is saying. A bubble laughter surged up inside me and for some crazy reason, I felt like pushing down the accelerator as far as it can go and throwing my head back and laugh like crazy.

Yup, I'm definitely not myself these days.

"We're here Valkyrie, you can park beside that green car. Carefully, if you can," Skulduggery said weakly.

I parked as carefully as I could, though _slightly_ scraping the green car in front of me. I slowly turned the engine off and Skulduggery and I both sighed and leaned back in our seats in relief. After what seemed like ages, he turned to me and cleared his throat.

"Well that was….uhh..," he started. I could practically see him rummaging through his _"Dictionary of Encouraging Words to Complement Valkyrie's driving" _in his head.

"Violent?" I suggested.

Skulduggery sighed and gave up. "Yeah, violent."

"Hmmm…," I began. "Maybe a car isn't right for me."

He turned to me sharply. "Why not? Cars are right for everyone!"

"I don't know. How about I ride a motorbike like Tanith? And maybe she could teach me!"

Skulduggery grumbled. "Yeah right!" he said as he got out of the car. I sighed and reached back and grabbed the bag containing the scepter pieces, and then got out.

"What you need," Skulduggery was telling me as I locked the car, "Is a lot of practice! Take your time. A wise man once said that _slow and steady wins the race_."

"And does _this _"wise man" have a beard or moustache?" I grumbled.

"I'm not quite sure actually," Skulduggery muttered tapping his chin.

"I'm too dangerous on the road anyway," I said glumly as we walked to the door.

"Don't worry. How about I make a sign to tape on the window? It could say something like "_Dangerous driver: If you want to live, then stay a mile away from this car_"!"

I stared at him and sighed. "Make it big," I snapped. I looked at the door and had a queasy feeling in my stomach. "I don't know if I should go in there. I don't think China has forgiven me for destroying her shelf and her books."

"You'll be fine," Skulduggery assured.

He rang the bell and the door was soon opened by China's assistant.

We stepped inside and followed the assistant to a wide room with a Victorian dining table and chairs in the middle and at the back was a wide staircase that up but then split into two directions. Lounging on the chair was China, Ghastly and Fletcher, while Tanith stood leaning against the rail of the stairs. They seemed to be having some sort of a tea party. _Awkward_.

"I'm sorry," began Skulduggery. "Are we interrupting something?"

They turned to us surprised. Tanith winked at me.

"Ah, Skulduggery and Valkyrie! Please sit down. No, we were just having some tea," said China giving us a dazzling smile.

I sat down heavily on the chair and put my bag down while Skulduggery kept standing and leaned against the wall.

Fletcher turned to me raised his brows. "Hey, what's up? You look knackered."

I gave out a quiet moan.

"Driving?" asked Ghastly.

I moaned louder.

"Ah," he said, as if he understood everything.

"Valkyrie + Driving = Dangerous," muttered Skulduggery. I gave him a glare.

Suddenly, a loud _bang_ and an "_Ouch!_" came from upstairs followed by some colourful swearing. We all looked up.

"Who's that?" asked Tanith biting off a doughnut.

"Oh, that's a "strange" visitor I had last night. She came knocking at my door well past midnight asking for a place to stay," explained China.

I turned to Fletcher since he was staying here too, but he just shrugged.

"I didn't see her at breakfast. She left before I woke up, and has been away all morning. I only saw a glimpse of blue or black when she came back an hour ago, but not properly 'cause I was sitting at the far end of the library."

"Her name is strange," began China.

"Oh that's fine," Skulduggery said. "I mean we've all got strange names. Like I'm Skulduggery and Ghastly is…well _Ghastly_!"

Ghastly gave him a look and I smiled.

"Not I mean her name _is_ Strange!" China snapped. "Electra Strange."

_Electra Strange_, I thought. Why does that ring a bell?

The clack, clack of footsteps hitting wooden floor boards, interrupted my thoughts. A figure walked down the stairs and came to halt at the bottom. A girl stood there tapping away furiously at her cell phone. She suddenly froze and looked up and blinked.

_Holy smoke!_ It was Miss. Strange! From the sanctuary.

She looked way different than before, more girl than woman. Instead of the suite, she wore a black velvety top which went all the way down to the middle of her thighs, light blue jeans and black Ugg boots over the top. Her hair was no longer in a bun, and instead it was out and was swaying around her shoulders. Her streaks were still there, though.

"Er…hello?!" she said uncertainly.

We stared at each other until China broke the silence. "Miss. Strange-," she began.

"Electra, please," Electra replied.

"Well Electra," China began again. "Are you well rested?"

"Oh yeah. I had a long nap at my friends place," she said. She then finally caught sight of me and raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Hey!"

"Hi," I said back awkwardly. We smiled and nodded awkwardly at each other.

"Where is the wacky skeleton Dude? Mr. Pleasant, right? Is he here?" she asked looking around.

Skulduggery stepped out of the shadows and tilted his head at her. "Wacky skeleton dude?" he asked.

Electra shrugged and smiled sheeply.

"Electra, would you like something to eat?" China asked gesturing to the table of snacks.

"Oh that's okay, I'm fine-Hey is that a doughnut?" she said as she reached for one. A huge grin appeared on her face as she took a bite. "I love doughnuts! There just all sugar and happiness, ya know?" she said as she kept munching.

She really wasn't "Miss. Strange" the polite, any more.

"Please sit down," China smiled.

Electra grabbed a chair and swung it backwards as she sat down so the back of the chair was facing the table.

"Well Electra, let me introduce you to Ghastly Bespoke, Tanith Low and Fletcher Crane," China said.

"Hiya!" Electra said to everyone.

"So Electra, could you tell us a bit about yourself?" asked Tanith standing up straighter.

"Well you know my name, I came to China's," said Electra nodding at China. "With my best friend Phantom-"

"_Phantom_?" asked China, suddenly alert.

"Yeah, he is my rat," she explained.

"Rat?" yelped China springing to her feet and banging into Tanith behind her, almost spilling her tea.

"Oh don't worry! He is not an actual rat!" Electra said hurriedly. "He is a _phantom_ in the _form_ of a rat!"

Like that's supposed to make her feel better.

"Well, wh- where is he?" China quivered as she sat back down. "In his cage?"

Electra snorted. "Of course not! He is right here!" she said pointing no her neck.

We all peered closely at her neck and a second later, a little white nose peeped out from behind her neck, curtained by her hair. Then, slowly, a face poked out and then a body and then a tail.

I couldn't resist it. I let out an "_Awww_!"

Electra smiled and put her hand near "Phantom" and he jumped on. Finally out of the dark, Phantom rubbed his head with his paws. Looking more closely, he was completely white with weird black marks here and there. He had large, slanted, black eyes and two large ears though one was a bit bitten of the edge.

China yelped again.

I turned to Skulduggery who, to my surprise, was right there beside my head. A tingly feeling shot through me and fought the urge to "_accidentally_" nudge my head against his.

"What's a phantom?" I asked Skulduggery, turning my head the other way so he wouldn't see me blush.

"Ah, well a phantom, is a spirit of a dead person, especially those who have been murdered unfairly, that hasn't been at rest," he said straightening up. "Usually a phantom haunts a particular territory where the death took place and causes a lot of havoc, until someone comes and either frees the phantom, binders it into an animal form or puts it to force rest."

"So you bound this phantom? Nice" murmured Tanith.

"Does it have a name?" asked Fletcher.

"Er…well," Electra started, "His does have a real name,…it's…um…Sheldon."

We all became silent and then Tanith burst out laughing.

"Ahaha! SHELDON! Ha!" she practically shrieked. One by one we all started to laugh and by now Tanith was nearly on her knees. Even China cracked a smile but unlike Tanith, she remained her posture.

Electra was using all the energy she could muster to hold in her laugh. The phantom was the only person who didn't seem to find it funny. In fact he twitched his nose angrily.

"No of course it's not a bad name!" Electra said hurriedly to the Phantom. "Tanith just has a…erm…health issue where her…uh, rib bone becomes dislodged and uh…tickles her?"

We stared at Electra as if she was insane! I mean seriously, a rib bone! Blimey, she was worse at excuses than _me_!

Electra shot Tanith a look and she tried to stifle her laughter failing miserably.

"Anyway," Electra continued, "I'd prefer if you just call him Phantom. He doesn't seem to mind either. Anyhoo, what else? Er…I'm 19. I've no idea where I come from. My favorite food is anything chocolate or anything else with lots of caffeine. Oh and I'm a coffee addict. I'm allergic to-"

"Why don't you tell us why you're here?" Ghastly interrupted.

"Oh, well um… for a place to stay?"

We gave her the "_that load of crap doesn't fool me_" look.

"Nice warm hospitality…"

We kept "looking".

"Oh fine!" she grumbled. "I've come looking for a mentor to help me control my powers."

"Oh well that shouldn't be a problem," Ghastly smiled. "Are you an elemental or adept?"

"Neither," she replied.

"Oh, er…necromancer?"

"Nope. Actually I control, well…electricity."


End file.
